What does the Prime Minister’s criticism of banking culture mean for OHS?

Some of Australia’s mainstream media reported on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull‘s admonishment of the banking sector on April 6 2016.  He accused them of having an unhealthy culture, reflecting a general and growing public dissatisfaction with large financial institutions, insurance companies and other corporations.

Given that the dominant perspective on occupational health and safety (OHS), at the moment, is the importance of an organisational culture that values workplace safety, it is worth looking at Prime Minister Turnbull’s words and those of prominent executives and financial regulators recently reported in the mainstream press.

Continue reading “What does the Prime Minister’s criticism of banking culture mean for OHS?”

A new option for avoiding OHS obligations

cover of Deferred-Prosecution-Agreements-Discussion-PaperA major motivation for occupational health and safety (OHS) improvements in many businesses is the potential damage to a company’s reputation if someone is injured or killed from the company’s operations.  Usually such an event would result in a prosecution by an OHS regulator but prosecution rates are variable and there are an increasing range of options and mechanisms, such as enforceable undertakings, available to companies in order to avoid a prosecution or financial penalty.

A new prosecution option has recently gained the attention of the Australian Government and one with which OHS professionals should become familiar as it could spread into their field of operations.

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Andrew Barrett’s OHS interview on community radio

Some people have accused me of writing for the converted through the SafetyAtWorkBlog and the majority of followers to this blog are OHS professionals and safety regulators, but everything on the Internet is able to be found by anyone who wants to, so the broad audience exists.  Sometimes, however, you need to push yourself in the media. Continue reading “Andrew Barrett’s OHS interview on community radio”

Please not another type of leadership

My high school English teacher, Mrs Kenny, taught me to précis writing.  It has been a very useful tool in my careers but also increases my frustration with unnecessary words. All the recent attention to the importance of Leadership in business and workplace safety has led to lots of different varieties of Leadership.  A recent video from the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health illustrates one of them. Continue reading “Please not another type of leadership”